Transformation
by Hazel Gray
Summary: Set in Lily and James’s 5th year at Hogwarts. The Marauders have come up with a way to help Lupin’s transformations…but will it be too dangerous? Unbeknownst to anyone, Lily Evans has a secret of her own…A pure Lily/James romance, along with some
1. Invisibility

Transformation  
Chapter 1: Invisibility  
  
Morning had come to Godric's Hollow. First, the golden ball of fire came over the distant hills, extending its arms towards the black sky. The reds began to dance across the early morning sky, twirling with their grace and fire. The pinks came out, and subtly helped the sun on its journey, unnoticed. A goldenrod came out, and sang its solo with the sun, as they all rose in harmony. The cloudless sky slowly turned the color of the foaming sea. At long last, the sun cleared the hills, the sky turned the deepest blue, and the colors began to drop out. Soon, only the sun remained singing, its low bass resounding through the mountains.  
  
On the top of one of the mountains, a shadow watched the orchestra. It stood breathlessly, watching the morning unfold in the silence of the world below. The shadow heard the different voices singing through the colors, heard the individual songs. When the sun rose to its full height, the boy on the hill turned his face to the sun, humming his own tune. To anyone listening, it would sound like a strange, unnatural song, a song without melody, a song with almost no rhythm. To him, it was the sound of nature, the sound of love, and the sound of the coming of the dawn.  
  
The boy turned from the sun, pulling his thin cloak around him. Wispy tendrils of mist hung in the air, rebelling against the heat that was certain to come upon them, holding onto their last breath of life before assured destruction. A twig cracked from further down the mountain, and the boy fell silent. His emerald eyes scanned the landscape stretching below him, seeing no sign of life. They turned to the slope in front of him, the winding path that only he knew. Someone was coming.  
  
Without making a sound, the boy became a shadow once more, melding into the side of the cliff. Had anyone been watching, it would have seemed that he had become invisible. The casual onlooker would then shake their head and dismiss it as a trick of the light. But was it?  
  
Just as the boy melted away, a man stepped onto the cliff from the path meandering down the mountain. He was dressed in a black robe, the hood pulled over to hide his face. Sunlight never penetrated the deep depths of his hood, and all he revealed were his pale hands, stiffly by his sides. He scanned the cliff, his sharp, cold eyes missing nothing. At last, convinced he was safe, he pulled back his hood.  
  
Though the nothing stirred around him, the boy shifted, his eyes widening at the sight of this newcomer's face. A sudden breeze rustled the man's white blonde hair, causing a few of the thin, straight wisps to pull free, waltzing with the wind. His eyes had thick curtains drawn across them, revealing nothing about the feelings he harbored. They were the color of the strands of mist that wrapped themselves around his heavy boots, mixed with the color of the sky above him. He stood erect, as though being inspected for a position in the army, his eyes toward the rising sun.  
  
The boy watched him for a time, puzzled by his behavior. No one knew about this place but him, or so he had thought. Then, the man began to change. His shoulders relaxed, and his posture slumped slightly. His eyes turned to the ground, and the curtains fell from behind them. He turned from the sun, much as the boy had done, and looked at the cliff wall, right at the boy. The man seemed to look right through him, to things beyond the boy's comprehension.  
  
The boy noticed that now, the man's eyes were not shadowed, or hidden. They were full of emotion. His green eyes met the glaciers of ice, and the boy almost cried out. The once icy eyes had melted in the heat of the sun, the results trickling down his face. It took the boy a while before he registered that the man was crying. He was not bawling, nor was his face screwed up like a baby's. It was as if his grief was too much for him to bear any longer.  
  
The man's eyes were endless wells of fog, grief and despair raining from all sides. Not a glimmer of hope dwelled in the depths of that well, not a single ray of light shone through a crack in the walls. But there were cracks in the structure. Huge, gaping holes that had once been filled by hope, friendship, family, and love. There was a small creature lurking inside one of the holes, a tiny spot of remembrance of what it had felt like to be cared for and loved in return. The creature was starving, dying, but still managed to stay alive, living of the moments that the guard went down around the walls. This was one of these times, and the small piece of memory climbed to the surface, reminding the man of all the things he had forgotten.  
  
The memories came flooding back. Memories of love, happiness, family, and hope. He stood, letting the feeling wash over him, knowing he would never truly feel loved ever again. He felt rather than cried the tears flowing freely down his cheeks. He knew that they came from his true heart, not from the false one he showed the world.  
  
The creature felt the walls begin to harden once more, and knew that its time was over. It crawled back into its hole, knowing that the man would now forget his memories and put on an indifferent face. And so the man did. The tears stopped, his breath became normal, and he pulled the hood over his blonde hair once more. He silently left the cliff, walking down the winding path back to Godric's Hollow.  
  
The boy materialized once more, pulling his cloak off of him. A wind had picked up, and the boy's black hair whipped around his face as he stared into space. He knew the man that had been here, or at least, he thought he knew him. Now, he had been proven wrong. He was still shivering from the shock of being locked eye to eye with the man, of seeing his never- ending grief and longing for love.  
  
Slowly, James Potter turned, and began to climb back down the slope. 


	2. Summer's End

Transformation  
Chapter 2: Summer's End  
  
"Lily? Lily! Mum's calling us for breakfast! Where is that wretched girl? Hey freak! Where are you?"  
  
Lily Evans rolled over onto her back, staring up at her pale blue ceiling. She had hoped that her two older sisters would become more gentle towards her this summer, but in vain. Now, however, in her soft, wizard- made bed, she felt totally at peace. Her head was slowly sinking back into the pillows, and her legs didn't feel like moving just yet. She could hear her sister Petunia screaming at the top of her lungs, but Lily had learned to block it out. She closed her eyes, drifting back towards sleep, thinking about Hogwarts.  
  
Hogwarts.  
  
Lily would be there in only a few days, back with her best friends: James, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and Arabella. All of them would be ecstatic to see her of course, and they would immediately start to plan this year's bout of troublemaking schemes.She smiled, imagining James' face lit up with excitement as he poured over his father's old map of Hogwarts. His brown eyes would be dancing behind the glasses; his hair probably messy and in his eyes, and then those endless pools of brown would turn to hers.  
  
"LILY!" Lily landed back in reality with an unpleasant thump. She jumped up into a sitting position, and found her face to face with Narcissa. Lily slumped back onto the pillows, glaring at her sister. Narcissa was two years older than Lily; she would be in her final year of Hogwarts this year. Lily had always been slightly jealous of Narcissa. Narcissa had gorgeous blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, was very tall and thin, and had every boy in the school bowing down to her. Of course, thought Lily triumphantly, James wasn't goggling at her like an idiot.  
  
Lily brushed her shockingly red hair out of her eyes, and glared back at her sister. "I'm awake, Narcissa. Tell Mum I'll be down in a few minutes." Narcissa sniffed nonchalantly, but grinned at Lily all the same. She ruffled Lily's hair before standing up and clattering down the stairs. Lily grimaced, imagining the tangles that Narcissa had just planted in her hair. Her frown quickly turned to a grin, however, as she heard a tapping on the window.  
  
It was her beautiful gray owl, Llewellyn, which had been a gift from James in her third year. Llewellyn was mostly used for correspondence between Lily and James, but occasionally Lily sent him on trips to Sirius or Lupin. Today, Llewellyn was carrying a large package that looked much too big for him.  
  
"What's that?" asked Lily, coming over and throwing open the window. Llewellyn flew over to his perch, and then stuck his leg out. Lily walked across the room to his wooden perch and untied the package. She petted Llewellyn softly on the head, murmuring her thanks.  
  
Lily sat back down on her bed, crossed her legs, and brought the package onto her lap. The writing was untidy cursive, the loops going higher than the capital letters. Lily grinned; it was from James. She pushed her hair behind her ears, and ripped it open. Inside, there was a letter and another package. She read the letter first.  
  
Dear Lily,  
  
I was thinking about you a lot yesterday. My brothers were all playing Quidditch outside, but I didn't really feel like playing. My mind was fixed on going back to Hogwarts, and seeing you and all of our friends again. I miss you all so much! When Sirius came over, he and I spent most of our time discussing future plots. How about this one: What if we coat dungbombs in vanilla icing, and then set them on Snape's plate at dinner? He'd just think that they were cakes.until he ate them. Boom! We were clutching our sides laughing just thinking about the look on his face.  
  
Lil, I have something very important to tell you. Sirius, Remus, Peter, and I have been working on something for a long time, something that we never really told you about. They all convinced me to keep quiet about it, but keeping it from you was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I'm so sorry that we haven't told you this earlier, but.  
  
Uh-oh.sounds like someone just blew up something downstairs. I have to mail this now, but I'll talk to you later about the subject when we get to Hogwarts.  
  
Lots of love from,  
  
James  
  
Lily frowned. What were they keeping from her? She knew about Remus, of course, but what could the others possibly have to do with that? She then turned her attention to the last part of the letter. Lots of love from, James. Her face burst into a wide smile. She folded the letter up and put it in her bedside table drawer, where she kept all of his letters. She sat on her bed for a few minutes more, daydreaming about going back to Hogwarts and planting dungbombs on Snape's plate.  
  
Lily then realized that her breakfast was probably stone cold by now. She stood up, and dashed out of the room onto the landing. She clattered down the old wooden steps, almost forgetting to jump the third one, which was a trick stair. As she reached the kitchen, its door swung open at the speed of light, knocking Lily backwards onto the ground. Groaning, she sat up, holding her now-bleeding nose. Her mother was standing over her, looking totally enraged.  
  
"Lily Evans!!" yelled her mother, looking furious. "What have you been doing? Sleeping, I expect, or daydreaming about those boys at your school! Well, its time you got up earlier, and arrived promptly when I asked you to! Oh." she said, suddenly seeing Lily's nose. "Oh my poor dear, here, let me fix that."  
  
She drew her wand out of her apron pocket and pointed it at Lily's face. She murmured a spell, and Lily felt her bones slide back into position. It hurt quite a bit, and she winced at the sound of the bones grinding together in her nose. "Oww.thanks Mum."  
  
Her mother nodded dismissively, then motioned Lily into the kitchen, where her sisters were already eating. Narcissa was eating daintily, moving her spoon slowly to her mouth so as to avoid spilling any milk. She was already dressed, wearing a very becoming yellow sundress. Petunia was sitting across from her, shoveling cereal into her mouth, apparently not caring whether it went into her mouth or onto the floor. Petunia was wearing her usual large, purple nightdress that drove Lily mad. Lily's mother was cooking, listening to the Wizard Wireless Network. Lily recognized the voice of Sabrina Warbeck, her mother's favorite opera singer.  
  
Lily sat down beside Narcissa, and reached for the Daily Prophet. Narcissa grimaced at her. "Must you?" she asked as Lily put her elbow in Narcissa's cereal.  
  
"Oops, sorry Narcissa, didn't mean to."  
  
Narcissa sighed loftily. "Of course you didn't.just like always."  
  
Lily decided to ignore these comments, and opened the Daily Prophet. Staring at her, on the very front page, was the Dark Mark. Lily frowned, gazing at it. It was a usual sight on the front cover nowadays. So far this month, there had been at least one killing a day. And now.Lily sighed. When Voldemort had first come into power, she had cried every time someone was killed. But now, she was resigned to the fact that she could do nothing about it.  
  
Lily flipped the page, but then quickly turned back to the front. Her eyes frantically scanned the page.she could have sworn she had seen his name.there.  
  
The self-proclaimed 'Death Eaters' attacked Godric's Hollow this morning. So far, at least five people have been reported dead, though many unidentifiable parts have been found within the rubble of the three houses that were blown up. The Killing Curse killed the wizards, though why their houses were also destroyed remains an unsolved mystery. The homes housed the Fletcher family, the Bones family, and the Potter family. So far in the investigation, they have found everyone but two teenage boys. One of them is Lucius Malfoy, a sixteen-year-old who was about to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Malfoys were here on their summer vacation, spending a few days with the Fletcher family. The other is his classmate, James Potter, a fifteen-year-old Gryffindor who was also about to start his fifth year at Hogwarts. The I.C.W. (Investigative Committee for Wizardkind) has informed the Daily Prophet that so far they have found no trace of life signs under the rubble, but will continue to search diligently. May they find those poor boys.  
  
-Sigmund Weasley, Daily Prophet Reporter  
  
Lily's mind shut down.  
  
James.  
  
*********************  
  
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!! I'm writing furiously, so you shouldn't have to wait terribly long for the next chapter. Next chapter: Where James is, and the story of how he got there.  
  
~*Hazel*~ 


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